An aspect of the invention provides a game machine including: a second game chance control device that generates at least one game chance that is allowed to establish a predetermined winning condition in a game within a predetermined range provided to a player in exchange for a game value; a symbol arrangement control device that determines types of symbols to be arranged on a predetermined area on a game screen with a predetermined positional relationship according to the generation of the game chance; and a first winning determining device that determines whether the winning condition is established based on the types and the arrangement of the symbols arranged on the predetermined area.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection. Each claim is shown in both the original legal language and a plain English translation.
1. A game machine comprising: a game chance control device adapted and configured to generate at least one game chance that is allowed to establish a winning condition in a game provided to a player; a symbol arrangement control device adapted and configured to determine types of symbols to be arranged on a predetermined area on a game screen with a predetermined positional relationship according to the generation of the game chance; and a winning determining device adapted and configured to determine whether the winning condition is established based on the types and the arrangement of the symbols arranged on the predetermined area, wherein the symbol arrangement control device comprises comprising: a symbol drawing device adapted and configured to draw at least one symbol from symbol candidates including normal symbols and wild symbols; a symbol arrangement device adapted and configured to arrange the symbols drawn by the symbol drawing device on the predetermined area; a consumption condition determining device adapted and configured to determine whether a predetermined consumption condition is established in the game; and a symbol control device adapted and configured to control arrangement of symbols on the predetermined area so that when the wild symbol is arranged on the predetermined area, the effective range of the wild symbol is reduced every time that the consumption condition is established, and even if a new game chance is generated, the wild symbol remains on the predetermined area until the effective range is consumed, and when the effective range is consumed, the wild symbol disappears from the predetermined area.
A game machine provides a game to a player where a game chance is generated, allowing a winning condition to potentially be met. When a game chance occurs, the machine determines which symbols to display in a specific area on the game screen. The arrangement of the symbols is determined by drawing symbols from a set of candidates, including normal symbols and special "wild" symbols. The machine then checks if the symbols arranged on the screen meet the predetermined winning condition. A key aspect is how "wild" symbols function: once a wild symbol appears, it remains present for a certain number of uses or "effective range." Each time the wild symbol helps to trigger a consumption condition in the game, its effective range is reduced. The wild symbol persists across multiple game chances until its effective range is depleted, at which point it disappears.
2. The game machine according to claim 1 , wherein the effective range is defined by a number of effective times, and the symbol control device is adapted and configured to determine that the consumption condition is established every time the wild symbol is used for the establishment of the winning condition, and reduces the number of effective times one by one.
In the game machine described previously, the "effective range" of a wild symbol is defined by the number of times it can be used. Specifically, the machine determines a consumption condition is established each time the wild symbol contributes to achieving the winning condition. Each successful use of the wild symbol in creating a winning combination reduces its remaining effective range by one. This number of uses continues until the effective range reaches zero, when the wild symbol is removed from the game area, as described in the previous game machine setup.
3. The game machine according to claim 1 , wherein the winning determining device is adapted and configured to determine that the winning condition is established when a predetermined number of same types of symbols arranged on the predetermined area form a predetermined array.
In the described game machine, the winning condition is met when a specific number of the same type of symbols are arranged in a pre-defined pattern within the designated area on the game screen. The machine checks for this predetermined array of matching symbols to determine if the player has won and is eligible for a reward. This is the method used by the game machine to decide if the winning condition has occurred during the current game chance.
4. The game machine according to claim 1 wherein the game chance control device is further adapted and configured to: generate the new game chance in the game when the winning condition is established; and end the game when the winning condition is not established, wherein the symbol control device is adapted and configured to erase the wild symbol from the predetermined area when the winning condition is not established and the wild symbol remains within the effective range.
In this game machine, a new game chance is triggered when the player achieves a winning condition in the current game. However, if the current game chance does *not* result in a winning condition, the game ends. Critically, if a wild symbol is present on the game screen but the game ends without a win (and the wild symbol still has remaining effective range), the game machine removes that wild symbol from the predetermined area. This ensures that any remaining "effective range" of the wild symbol is removed when the game ends without a winning condition.
5. The game machine according to claim 4 , wherein the symbol drawing device is adapted and configured to draw symbols from the symbol candidates at any game chance generated in the game, the symbol arrangement device arranges the wild symbol on the predetermined area at a game chance generated at next and subsequent times when the winning condition is established at the game chance at a time point when the symbol drawing device draws the wild symbol.
Within the game machine described earlier, the symbol drawing process selects symbols from the available pool of candidates (including both normal and wild symbols) during *any* game chance. Critically, the game machine arranges a wild symbol onto the predetermined area only during subsequent game chances. Specifically, this occurs *after* a previous game chance has resulted in a winning condition *and* the symbol drawing process has selected a wild symbol at that winning game chance. Thus, wild symbols appearing in future games are contingent on a previous win having occurred while a wild symbol was drawn.
6. The game machine according to claim 5 , further comprising a symbol presenting device adapted and configured to present the drawn wild symbol as a symbol to be arranged on the predetermined area at the game chance generated at the next and subsequent times to the player when the symbol drawing device draws the wild symbol.
The game machine, as described previously, now includes a symbol presentation feature. When the symbol drawing mechanism selects a wild symbol at a particular game chance, the machine immediately shows the player that the wild symbol has been selected. This pre-selected wild symbol is presented as the symbol that will be arranged on the predetermined area in future game chances, specifically those following the game chance where the wild symbol was drawn. This provides transparency to the player about the upcoming state of the game.
7. The game machine according to claim 5 , wherein the symbol drawing device draws a symbol from the symbol candidates at the game chance generated first in the game.
In this game machine, the initial symbol selection process differs slightly from the processes described previously. Specifically, the very first game chance presented to the player involves the machine drawing a symbol from the candidate pool. This drawing occurs specifically at the start of the *first* game chance, rather than at any later point. All subsequent game chances and symbol drawing follow the pattern described previously (drawing at any time including after a win).
8. The game machine according to claim 1 wherein the symbol candidates include wild symbols whose effective range varies.
In the game machine architecture previously outlined, the wild symbols that can be drawn during a game chance possess a variable "effective range." This means that different wild symbols may have different numbers of uses before they disappear from the predetermined area. The machine can randomly select a wild symbol that has a smaller or larger number of effective times, adding an element of unpredictability to the appearance and duration of wild symbols in the game. The rest of the game and wild symbol consumption rules follow those defined in earlier descriptions.
9. A computer program product embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium is constituted to allow a computer provided to a game machine to serve as: a game chance control device adapted and configured to generate at least one game chance that is allowed to establish a winning condition in a game provided to a player; a symbol arrangement control device adapted and configured to determine types of symbols to be arranged on a predetermined area on a game screen with a predetermined positional relationship according to the generation of the game chance; and a winning determining device adapted and configured to determine whether a predetermined winning condition is established based on the types and the arrangement of the symbols arranged on the predetermined area, wherein the symbol arrangement control device is further adapted and configured to serve as: a symbol drawing device adapted and configured to draw at least one symbol from symbol candidates including normal symbols and wild symbols; a symbol arrangement device adapted and configured to arrange the symbols drawn by the symbol drawing device on the predetermined area; a consumption condition determining device adapted and configured to determine whether a predetermined consumption condition is established in the game; and a symbol control device adapted and configured to control arrangement of symbols on the predetermined area so that when the wild symbol is arranged on the predetermined area, the effective range of the wild symbol is reduced every time that the consumption condition is established, and even if a new game chance is generated, the wild symbol remains on the predetermined area until the effective range is consumed, and when the effective range is consumed, the wild symbol disappears from the predetermined area.
A computer program, stored on a non-transitory medium, controls a game machine to perform the following functions: generating game chances, each allowing a winning condition to be met; determining which symbols to display in a specific area, selecting these symbols from candidates, including normal and "wild" types; checking if the symbols meet the winning condition. Crucially, "wild" symbols function as follows: they persist for a certain number of uses ("effective range"). When a wild symbol contributes to the consumption condition in the game, its effective range decreases. The wild symbol remains across game chances until the range depletes, then it disappears. The computer program also controls drawing a symbol from symbol candidates including normal symbols and wild symbols and arranging these drawn symbols on the predetermined area.
10. A method of determining whether a winning condition is established based on types and arrangements of symbols on a predetermined area, the method comprising: drawing at least one symbol from symbol candidates including normal symbols and wild symbols; arranging the at least one symbol drawn on the predetermined area; determining whether a predetermined consumption condition is established; controlling arrangement of symbols on the predetermined area so that when the wild symbol is arranged on the predetermined area, an effective range of the wild symbol is reduced every time that the consumption condition is established, and even if a new game chance is generated, the wild symbol remains on the predetermined area until the effective range is consumed; and when the effective range is consumed, removing the wild symbol from the predetermined area.
A method exists to determine if a winning condition is established based on symbols arranged on a screen. This method involves drawing symbols from a set of candidates, including both normal and "wild" symbols, and placing those symbols in a predetermined area. A key element is how "wild" symbols work: when a wild symbol is present, it has an "effective range" which represents how many times it can be used. Each time a consumption condition is established while the wild symbol is present, its effective range decreases. The wild symbol remains on the screen through subsequent game chances until its effective range is used up; once this happens, the wild symbol is removed from the predetermined area. The method also includes determining whether a predetermined consumption condition is established.
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December 19, 2011
August 20, 2013
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